Last update - 00:00 21/02/2008
High Court hears plea against parole of Danny Katz's murderers
By Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday began considering an appeal by the family of a murdered teenager against the early release of five men convicted of the 1983 killing.
The family of Danny Katz wants the court to overrule the decision by a special parole committee to commute the men's sentences and the approval of the decision by President Shimon Peres and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann.
Three of the men were each sentenced to 30 years in prison. The other two, who were also convicted of murdering soldier Dafna Carmon, were sentenced to 45 years each. The five were convicted again in a retrial a few years ago.
Peres signed off on the early release last August, after it had been recommended by the parole board and approved by Friedmann.
The Katzes cite "grave fundamental flaws" in the parole board's work in their demand to revoke the decision. Their attorney, Yaakov Weinroth, said that while the convicts' attorney, Avigdor Feldman, appeared before the parole panel, the Katz family had not. The family found out about
the procedure only after the decision was made.
Weinroth said the committee erroneously believed that at the time of the murder it had been customary to commute murder sentences to 24 years, and had taken this into consideration.
Peres made his decision on the basis of the board's flawed recommendation, therefore his decision should be revoked, Weinroth said.
Prosecutor Aner Helman conceded that not calling the family to speak to the parole board was an error, but said that this oversight did not warrant revoking the sentence reduction. He also noted that the president was under no obligation to accept the board's recommendation.
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